The Spaces Between Grassroots Documentary ... - Ezra Winton

connective tissue of a social movement seeking alternatives to the current economic
global regime; Dodds sees communities both as audiences that constitute the “demand”
her company supplies, as well as the real feet under the mobility of the film in question,
to virally spread important messages from the margins toward the middle; finally, Haynes
sees communities as the semi-autonomous film groups around the country that are
working in concert with his organization to build audiences in the commercial sector
hungry for diversity. All locate their discursive and geographic spaces within non-
mainstream communities in order to successfully deliver diversity to Canadian publics.
Film Circuit is a growing force, and its “returns” are indeed impressive. The d/e
network has injected millions into the cinema market in Canada, without resorting to
studio films as high visibility crutches (or “tent poles” to adapt industry parlance). It is
not a response that is in an opposition stance to Hollywood, but seeks to build on its
empire. As Haynes says: “Hollywood did a lot of the hard work, especially in the 30s and
40s – building cinema culture. But now it’s up to us to keep building. The two systems
can coexist: Hollywood and independent.” (Personal Interview, 2007, p.5) This dual
strain, post-policy approach is one of a kind in Canada, at least at the national scale, and
begs for further, deeper examination over a protracted research time frame of several
years.
While other initiatives such as Cinema Politica, Evolve and the Montreal
Underground Film Festival attempt to (re)locate cinema culture off the megaplex map,
Film Circuit continues to partner with commercial exhibitors on their own turf to address
content diversity issues that have eluded or been neglected by policymakers for nearly a
century in this country. At the end of the day, Haynes wants diverse films reaching every
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